Back in March, when Donald Trump was nothing more than the surprise leader in the Republican primaries, the fact that he was getting even 40% of the self-identified “evangelical” vote had already led Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore to declare that religious term “almost meaningless this year.” Even worse, “in many ways the word itself … More Done with “Evangelical”? Maybe You Should Try…
If you don’t spend your evenings following Twitter, you’re both a better steward of your time than me and perhaps unaware that the evangelical internet exploded last night, after Time magazine published this story: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to dismiss employees who support gay marriage https://t.co/ExtuqqltaZ — TIME (@TIME) October 6, 2016 Elisabeth Dias reported that InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, … More InterVarsity, Sexuality, and the Importance of Christian Unity
As I begin work on a book with one of its pastors about its theological heritage, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Evangelical Covenant Church. So with delegates from its congregations gathering in Phoenix, Arizona for our denomination’s annual meeting, I thought I’d share a few quotations from a few of my favorite Covenanters, clustered around our denomination’s … More Glad Hearts: Some of My Favorite Voices from the Covenant Church
It sounds like I wasn’t the only Pietist to take issue with David Gushee’s call for an evangelical “divorce,” between its conservative and progressive camps. Here’s North Park Seminary professor Jay Phelan in the current issue of The Covenant Companion: As I read his blog I found myself agreeing with a good deal of Gushee’s analysis—and rejecting … More Jay Phelan on Pietism and Evangelical Unity
It’s one of the four instincts that we think defines the Pietist ethos: to trust that Christians are better together than apart. Around Bethel, it shows up as an “irenic [or peaceable] spirit” that leads us to avoid needless controversy and try to reach decisions by consensus; in the Evangelical Covenant Church, it results in our affirmation of having the … More Thursday’s Podcast: A Peaceable Spirit
One of my favorite publications is The Cresset, which regularly publishes diverse collections of thoughtful essays on literature, art, education, politics, and more. Hosted by Valparaiso University, it “explores ideas and trends in contemporary culture from a perspective grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith while informed by the wisdom of the … More An Ecumenical Vision for Christian Higher Education
As much as the Larycia Hawkins case at Wheaton College connects to issues like Muslim-Christian relations and the place of academic freedom on Christian campuses, I think it should also take us back to another topic I blogged a lot about in late 2015: What does it mean to be an “evangelical” Christian? In addition to my usual … More “Who’s an Evangelical?” Revisited (#DocHawk Version)
So there’s a quotation I’ve been thinking about all summer: At the end of his life, Jesus declared his disciples his friends, meaning they shared with him a common passion for his mission in the world (John 15:13-15). Covenanters, as Mission Friends, have broadly understood mission to be the befriending of others, and all that God has … More Mission as Friendship: A Call to Deeper Unity for Christian Colleges
When I asked Devin Manzullo-Thomas to write a post providing some historical context for two Mennonite schools becoming the first members of the largely evangelical Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) to allow for the hiring of employees in same-sex marriages, I pointed him towards a World magazine story featuring this ominous paragraph: Dub Oliver, president of Union University … More Quick Thoughts on Union University Withdrawing from the CCCU
At the end of June I had the chance to spend a few days at Rathbun Lake in southern Iowa, joining my wife’s extended family for a reunion. Of course, even on vacation I couldn’t escape my research. In a part of Iowa most famous in religious history for being part of the Mormon Trail, I turned … More Pietism as Instincts, or It’s More Than Old Churches in Rural Iowa
The Pietist Schoolman 